Financial Opportunity Corps Expansion RFP F O R T H E P R O G R A M Y E A R

Transcription

1 Financial Opportunity Corps Expansion RFP F O R T H E P R O G R A M Y E A R APPLICATION COVER SHEET Organization Name Address (City, State, Zip Code) Contact Person Contact Title Contact Phone Contact Application Eligibility Requirements (Please check to acknowledge you have confirmed the status of these criteria): If a member of HandsOn Network, is a member in good standing (current on dues and associated membership standards) at the time of the application AND can remain a member in good standing for the length of this grant award. If applicable, is current on applicable fees payable to Points of Light /HandsOn Network Organization has reviewed and will adhere to the Award Recipient Expectations & Requirements section. Is an independent 501(c)(3); OR Has a fiscal agent partnership with 501(c)(3) OR Is a program internal to another 501(c)(3) or local, county, state government or institution of higher education Program Timeline: August 2016 August 2017 Upon selection you will receive one Full-time AmeriCorps VISTA Member and one part-time Fellow* Applications due May 6, 2016 *Grant award contingent upon program funding - expected Spring 2016 For any questions financialcoaching@pointsoflight.org. I understand that this program must align with the Financial Opportunity Corps program goals of poverty alleviation, community capacity building, community empowerment, and sustainability; that the program must collect project data and input data into the FOC database; and that this project must have access to or utilize existing financial coaching curriculum. Signature of CEO/Executive Director: Date: Name of CEO/Executive Director: Date: Expansion

2 SECTION A: Rationale and Approach I. ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM HISTORY A. Please indicate Economic Opportunity programs and services (including but not limited to EITC, VITA, Financial Coaching, and Financial Literacy) your organization has in the past managed or currently manages, and provide a brief summary of accomplishments. a. If your organization has not previously managed Economic Opportunity programming, please indicate that here. II. STRATEGIC APPROACH B. Describe in detail how the Financial Opportunity Corps coaching program aligns with your organization s strategic plan. Include how the coaching program would dovetail with services or programs your organization already offers. III. COMMUNITY NEED C. Describe the specific, local client populations your organization will impact and the community need you plan to address through this expansion opportunity. i. What is the target population? ii. Why have you chosen this target population? iii. What is the poverty level in your targeted community? Include citations and address access to financial services. iv. Please describe the challenges with the recruitment of this target population and the steps you have taken, or plan to take, to engage this population. Have you been successful in reaching this target population? IV. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND VOLUNTEERISM Sites P a g e 2

3 D. Has your organization previously managed volunteers? If so, how many and in what roles? E. Describe how you will engage community residents from the identified low income community in planning, development and implementation of community based projects and programs. F. Please describe how your project will mobilize broader community volunteers as financial coaches, including financial skills based volunteers, broader community volunteers, and community resident volunteers. a. How will you retain existing coaches and clients if applicable? V. PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION G. If applicable, please describe the financial capability curriculum you currently use to support a Financial Coaching Program. H. Please describe how you will ensure that clients have access to relevant support to additional economic opportunity programming, services and products in your community. I. If you currently manage or partner with a VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) site, please describe how you will integrate the VITA site into the Financial Opportunity Corps expansion programming and vice-versa. VI. PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT J. Please describe how you will engage other community partners in your efforts, including nonprofit organizations, businesses, other public agencies, and other entities. Please discuss significant partners already identified. K. Please describe how you will partner with financial institutions and other economic opportunity organizations in your efforts. Please list significant partners already identified. VII. ORGANIZATION OVERVIEW L. Provide a brief history of your organization, including specific examples of your prior accomplishments and outcomes in the field of service and volunteerism. VIII. SUPERVISION AND SUPPORT M. Describe your organization s management and staff structure and identify the staff member(s) that will be directly responsible for working with the AmeriCorps VISTA and Fellow to manage the FOC program including volunteers and clients. Sites P a g e 3

4 SECTION B: Program Evaluation IX. ALL APPLICANTS - PROGRAM EVALUATION Points of Light uses a comprehensive program evaluation tool to measure the impact of the Financial Opportunity Corps. We require the use of the FOC case management, Salesforce reporting system, and the administration of our standardized survey instruments using a prescribed administration schedule. Host sites will use this system to track and report on the performance and outcome measures and associated targets listed below. The targets below are per host site. Required Performance Measures Number of volunteers (coaches, workshop facilitators, other) trained Target per Site (Expansion) 80 Number of financial coaches engaged in coaching 60 Number of clients engaged in financial coaching (80% Low to Moderate Income or Economically Disadvantaged status) Number of Low to Moderate Income or Economically Disadvantaged clients engaged in financial literacy classes and workshops Percentage of coaching clients who exhibit improved money habits Percentage of workshop clients indicating improvement in financial knowledge and confidence % 80% Host sites will be required to engage in regular data collection and data entry into the FOC case management and reporting system to measure progress on the measures listed above and additional outputs including but not limited to number and frequency of coaching sessions, coaching client money habits, additional volunteers engaged (other than coaches), training provided to volunteers and economic status of coaching and workshop participants. Points of Light will provide training and support to all sites on the Sites P a g e 4

5 use of FOC surveys, administration schedule and the case management and reporting system. Reporting Requirements Include: Use of POL FOC case management and reporting systems Monthly Host Site Conference Call Agenda (Appendix A) Monthly Great Stories (Appendix B) Bi-Annual Performance and Outcome Reporting SECTION C: Volunteer Coach Position Description X. ALL APPLICANTS AmeriCorps VISTA and Fellow POSITION DESCRIPTION POL will collaborate with host sites to identify AmeriCorps VISTAs and Fellows. Please complete the site information section, which will be published on the position description. Site Information Organization Site Contact Name Contact Number Contact Address City, State, Zip Contact Sites P a g e 5

6 Appendix A Monthly Host Site Conference Call Agenda Every month the FOC team at each Host Site will hold a conference call with Points of Light. The purpose of this monthly host site call is to share your host site s accomplishments and challenges. Each month the VISTA, with the aid of their FOC team when necessary, will complete and submit the below call agenda before the scheduled call. Monthly Host Site Conference Call Agenda Narratives: (Please write a brief narrative of your accomplishments during this reporting period. Include measureable results as much as possible. Ex: I recruited 10 volunteers. I completed (a specific task) that will provide (result) to ## of LMI/ED individuals; I wrote 3 grant proposals totaling $45,000; I initiated (a specific task) that will increase the capacity/sustainability of my nonprofit by 20%.) Partnerships: (Please list any partners who have been active in your work this quarter, along with a sentence or phrase about how each partner is involved. Avoid acronyms. Please also list all meetings that you organized or meetings that you attended where you developed a significant partnership for your organization.) Sustainability: (Describe specific organizational strategies that are in place to sustain the results of the project. What are you doing to transition your organization away from dependence on the VISTA position? Training Needs: (What assistance can AmeriCorps VISTA, Points of Light, or your host site organization provide to you and your organization at this time? Are you having trouble finding grants? Do you want more training in specific topics such as Social Media Uses or event planning? If so, please include a bulleted list of your research/training topics here.) Stories, Quotes, and Reflective Observations: (include a great story, following the POL great story format, of a significant accomplishment or something you felt was particularly interesting or inspiring. The story should communicate to the public how VISTA members get things done in your community. Particularly helpful are stories that include numerical results and sustainable solutions.) Challenges: (Describe any challenges encountered during this reporting period. Be sure to include whether challenges have been resolved, or, if they remain unresolved, the plans to address them. This is an opportunity to document challenges not only for the VISTA and The Advancement Foundation, but for future VISTAs who will work with your project, and all others involved in the project.) Hourly Breakdown (approximate hours) # of hrs. Org. Research Grant writing or preparation Sites P a g e 6

7 Mass appeals (calls, newsletters, online contact to donors) Planning & evaluation (event work plans, new/expanded programs) Materials, manuals, and/or checklist development Website development Database management In field supervision of participants and/or volunteers Collaborations (please describe in narrative) Donor cultivation meetings Program development/curriculums, licensing, policies/procedures Other not included in narrative: (please specify) Sites P a g e 7

8 Appendix B Great Story Example $1,500 Saved Due to Financial Coaching Tools! 1/7/15 Step 1: Set up the story The setting The person with a name The problem The obstacles Details about your organization. The volunteer coach, the client, the neighbor, the staff member or you. What challenges is the client/coach facing? Give specific examples, use numbers if applicable. What habits did the Client change? Coaching is a process. Share any challenges. The solution When did the Client have their a-ha moment? What milestones were met? What goals were set/achieved? Step 2: Write a few sentences about the story you want to share $1,500 Saved Due to Financial Coaching Tools! HandsOn Broward matched Melissa and Shuhan at the end of February; they met in March and dove right in! During their first coaching session, Shuhan utilized many coaching tools such as the wheel of life and financial wheel. These techniques helped provide Melissa with a visual of her areas of strength and also areas that she wants to improve on throughout their coaching relationship. Melissa s financial goals included lifestyle changes and learning about personal financial management. She wrote her goals down and is focusing on moving into a new apartment, budgeting and saving for the future, spending less on unnecessary items and learning how to make the most of her money. At their second session, Melissa had achieved her milestones and was ready to continue moving forward. Much of the first two coaching sessions included specifying what Melissa wants to achieve. In order for Melissa to map out her path towards success, she applied the SMART model and rewrote all of her goals. This method really helps map out a plan of action for each of her goals over the next six months. Melissa also discovered mint.com, where she can manage her personal finances by utilizing technology. Nowadays, managing personal finance can be much simpler when utilizing technology! So far, Melissa is halfway to her financial goal of saving $3,000. Her organizational skills and commitment to sticking to her spending plan along with focusing on all of her goals at once has her moving forward at rapid speed. In addition to saving $3,000, she is looking for a second part-time job and exploring methods to help her detach from impulsive shopping. More great stories can be found on the FOC Blog. Sites P a g e 8

9 ALL APPLICATIONS DUE MAY 06, 2016 *GRANT AWARD CONTINGENT UPON PROGRAM FUNDING - EXPECTED SPRING 2016 Thank you! For any questions financialcoaching@pointsoflight.org. Sites P a g e 9